Introduction: Thanks to the teamwork from leadership and soldiers at Mission Training Complex of Ft. Indiantown Gap, PA (MTC-FTIG), I was able to be part of a Moral Leadership training/Staff Ride at Gettysburg, PA. From 1-3 July 1863, Gettysburg witnessed staggering amounts of heroism, strategy, victory, defeat, brotherhood, and gut-wrenching division unlike anything (in terms of scale) America has ever endured. No matter how many books I read about Gettysburg, or the film’s efforts to capture its endless complexities, it fascinates us still, and with good reason. My mind and emotions are still reeling from all the historical anecdotes our historian shared with us, and the “lessons learned” (hopefully) by Army leadership, and the fascinating stories of the complex relationships between Americans, their soil, and their values. 

Connection: When we stood atop Little Round Top and looked down into Devil’s Den, and when we looked at the field of Pickett’s Charge, and we listened to LTC (Ret.) Shick teach us about Culp’s Hill and the turning points that came from there, I could feel the soil speak. Not literally, of course, but there’s something about standing on the same ground where soldiers from North and South built campfires and drank coffee and bled, and packed their gear, and fought some more.

And we stood in the infamous Peach Orchard, and surveyed the Wheatfield, et al, it moved me in visceral ways–to think of 50,000+ bodies and souls of my fellow Americans slain on those grounds, and of the toll of countless more who were maimed, not to mention the devastation upon generations of America’s families of soldiers, it changed me.

Takeaway: One of my favorite proverbs from Scripture is Proverbs 22:28, “Do not remove the ancient landmark your fathers have set.” In other words, don’t erase history. Learn from it. Rather than tearing down statues, learn why they were erected. Rather than renaming schools, roads, installations, et al to appease political winds, why not educate rather than indoctrinate yourself? 

Again, my deep gratitude to the great team at MTC-FTIG for their efforts, and to PA Guardsman/historian, LTC (Ret.) Shick, for his expertise. As a mentor of mine in GA is wont to say, “Teamwork makes the dream work.” And this past few days will forever remain with me as a landmark my fathers have set.